Twenty-Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Fall Break has come and gone. The first quarter of the school year is behind us. And thank goodness, the blazing summer temperatures & heat advisories are finally behind us. Finally, we are getting some more temperate fall weather days. Fall is my favorite time of the year. I love the nicer weather. The idea of harvest has always had huge appeal. Not just the bounty, but the fruit of mankind’s labors. The fulfillment of hope from the spring act of placing seed in the ground and praying that God will provide the necessary sun & rain in proper quantities. Seeing an act through to completion, and seeing it well done. The interaction of land & man blessing others. It is all good!

     In the Fall, I enjoy starting to hear the crunch of fallen leaves beneath my boots as I hike in the forest again with colorful leaves overhead. In the hiking world, I’d be classified a “destination hiker”. When I go for a hike, I generally know where I’m going and press on until I get there. When others hike with me, which is rare, they sometimes ask, ‘do you ever stop just to take a breather? Or to see the sights?’ No doubt, not enough. These days, I can no longer do the miles or the pace I once did years ago, so I do find myself stopping more. And that has been an unexpected grace & blessing. The other day I was out on a hike. Reaching the top of a hill climb, I had to stop & catch my breath. Pausing, standing still, breathing in the earthy, life-giving, air, the natural noises slowly came alive. The longer I was still, the more the once startled-into-silence birds & bugs began again their song & buzz. The wind through the leaves above. Feeling the sun beams come & go as they were hidden & revealed by clouds & tree boughs. The sounds of civilization with its ever-unnatural noise was far away. My body was physically relaxed, untensed, and calm. It was good. 

      When was the last time you took in the natural world created lovingly and intentionally for us by Almighty God, who looked down upon His creation & creatures to pronounce them Good! It is good indeed. It is a good we should care for, protect, and treasure as discussed by the Indiana Catholic Conference last week in the Integral Ecology – A Sacramental Vision. I have more than once wondered if our collective civil slow loss of faith & religious practice is not due to greater scientific knowledge & economic affluence, as it is from a physical disconnect from the land, the forests, the lakes & oceans, from seed & field. We often see such things as recreational destinations or ‘play things’, but not the tangible, tender, touch of our God calling us to see things slowly through a Sacramental Lens. The Word-became-Flesh so that mere mortal flesh could become godlike – sanctified, glorified, divinized.

    Maybe you should go out for a Fall Forest hike. Find a pretty place, sit & soak it in. It will be good for you. It will be good for your soul. It will be good for your family. It will be good for God’s Holy Family connected again with all that is Good. 

Nothing Less than saints for the Holy Family of God.

Holy Family, close to creation, Pray for us.

~ Fr Jeremy M. Gries